“If only you would heed the voice of the Lord . . . .” It sounds so simple and it is—in theory.

A lot about religion gets relegated to the overcrowded room of  “mystery”: unknowable, unprovable, intangible, invisible. In theological terms, mystery is that which cannot be fathomed by human reason alone, or which depends upon the gift of divine revelation to be grasped.

Then a religion scholar stood up with a question to test Jesus. “Teacher, what do I need to do to get eternal life?”

“We had no time to grab anything. The water was rising and the current was already in the park. There were even some who had to leave without their pets. It was grab yourself and get.”

Late for an important meeting, I was running for a bus when I tripped and skid headlong on the sidewalk. I hopped back on my feet and caught up with the bus, huffing and puffing and embarrassed.

In the era before cell phones, a young professional woman was driving home late one night when she spotted a group of teenage boys all huddled together in a vacant lot just off a fairly deserted street.

With faith in God's kindness, we turn to the Lord.

Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.